Don't @ Me with Justin SimienJoin me, Justin Simien, each week for unfiltered conversations with the stars, artists and creators shaping our culture. If you’ve seen my show and film, Dear White People, you know we’re going to get into how race, gender, and sexuality impacts our lives and shapes our work. Beyond the knee-jerk reactions and Twitter hot takes, my guests and I get real and raw. Don't like what you hear? Don't @ Me.

The OrganistTake a weird, thoughtful and pleasurable journey into literature, music, art, philosophy, the internet, language, and history with McSweeney's and KCRW. This unconventional arts-and-culture magazine features contributors and guests like Miranda July, George Saunders, Lena Dunham, Tig Notaro, and Sarah Silverman.

Can Big Data Prevent Crime?

Tech companies claim that analyzing big data can predict crime and help to prevent it. That sounds like science fiction, but police agencies around the country are buying into it — with federal assistance. Critics say it's science fiction after all — with the risk of violating civil rights and eroding public confidence. Is it making law enforcement more efficient and more effective or reinforcing the biases that are leading to the erosion of public trust?

FROM THIS EPISODE

Tech companies claim that analyzing big data can predict crime and help to prevent it. That sounds like science fiction, but police agencies around the country are buying into it — with federal assistance. Critics say it's science fiction after all — with the risk of violating civil rights and eroding public confidence. Is it making law enforcement more efficient and more effective or reinforcing the biases that are leading to the erosion of public trust?

Later on the program, will the GOP presidential nomination be decided in "smoke-filled rooms?"

Dow and DuPont have announced the biggest merger plan in the history of the chemical industry. As a measure of their role in the economy, the new combine would then split into three new companies focused on agriculture, plastics and so-called "specialty chemicals." Brooke Sutherland, columnist for Gadfly, Bloomberg's new site for fast commentary, considers what the merger will mean for investors and agriculture.

Every cop and sheriff's deputy dreams of the day that law enforcement can stop crimes rather than solving them after the fact. Now many are buying programs from tech companies like Hitachi and IBM which claim that analyzing big data can predict crime before it happens. But garbage in means garbage out, and critics are asking where all that data comes from. Is it information that beat cops and investigators already know? Is it making law enforcement more efficient and more effective—or reinforcing the biases that are leading to the erosion of public trust?

Today's Washington Post reports that Republican power brokers are preparing for a nominating convention from out of the past. That news has presidential candidates Trump and Carson threatening to leave the party.